Why people get football opportunities

Hey ,

I've been thinking a lot recently about what actually has an impact for people who want to break into football.

The stuff that actually works.

Because when you look at the people who land opportunities - whether that's a conversation with a director of football, a freelance gig, or a full-time role - they don't all come from the same background. They don't all have the same qualifications or connections.

But they do share something in common.

And I think I've started to put a framework around it.

The Credibility Ladder

The core chain looks like this:

Visibility → Signal → Credibility → Opportunity

Let me break down what each stage actually means.

1. Visibility

This is the starting point.

You can't be considered for opportunities if nobody knows you exist. Visibility means showing up - publishing work, starting conversations, sharing your thinking in places where the right people might see it.

The principle I keep coming back to is simple - take more shots. It comes from the book Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon. ​

Not "be consistent." That's too vague. Take more shots means publish more work, put your thinking out there regularly, start conversations with new people and increase the surface area for the right person to find you at the right time.

Without visibility, nothing else in the chain can happen.

2. Signal

Not everything you share carries the same weight.

A signal is work that demonstrates something specific - your technical skills, your understanding of the game, your ability to think like someone already in the role.Your shots have to carry a signal. In an area where decision-makers can assess quality, weak work doesn't just get ignored. It can work against you.

Every shot should be something you'd be comfortable with a decision-maker judging your capability on.

3. Credibility

When your signals are strong and they stack up over time, they become credibility.

This is the point where someone who has never met you can look at your body of work and think, "this person knows what they're doing."

Credibility can be earned through demonstrated work, not just credentials. That's what makes this chain powerful - it creates a way in for people who don't have the traditional background.

4. Opportunity

Credibility is what gets a decision-maker to think, "this person is worth a conversation." That conversation is the opportunity.

It might be a DM, a call, a meeting, a project. But it starts because your work has already done the talking for you.

My own transition into football followed this chain. The Nottingham Forest recruitment plans I produced led to conversations I wouldn't have had otherwise. But it was the visibility over time - the niche, the style, the regular output - that compounded into recognition.

One of our my Recruitment Room members recently had a conversation with a director of football at an EFL club, entirely off the back of work they'd shared online. No prior connection. No introduction. Just a signal strong enough to start a conversation.

Now the framework isn't finished. But the patterns keep pointing back to the same things so I want to keep exploring it.

Does this reflect your experience? Does it ring true for where you are right now?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the framework.

Liam